Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

स चापि शशकस्तस्य न मृतो जठरं गतः । अद्यापि दृश्यते तत्र देहे पीयूषभक्षणात्

Transliteration

sa cāpi śaśakastasya na mṛto jaṭharaṃ gataḥ | adyāpi dṛśyate tatra dehe pīyūṣabhakṣaṇāt

Translation

Et ce lièvre, entré dans son ventre, ne mourut point. Aujourd’hui encore, on le voit là dans son corps, car il avait goûté au nectar d’immortalité, l’amṛta.

Word by Word

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Singular)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (निपात)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

• अपि: also, even
• अपि: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (निपात)
• Form: निपात (particle) — ‘also/even’

• शशकः: hare, rabbit
• शशकः: Karta (Subject/apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शशक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Singular)

• तस्य: of him
• तस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन (Genitive, Singular)

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (निपात)
• Form: निषेध-निपात (negation particle)

• मृतः: dead
• मृतः: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √मृ (मरणे))
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Singular) — भूतकृदन्त, ‘dead’

• जठरम्: belly, stomach
• जठरम्: Karma (Goal/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जठर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (Neuter, Accusative, Singular)

• गतः: having gone/entered
• गतः: Karta (Predicate of subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √गम् (गत्यर्थे))
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Singular) — भूतकृदन्त, ‘gone/entered’

• अद्य: today, even now
• अद्य: Kāla (Time)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb)

• अपि: still
• अपि: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (निपात)
• Form: निपात (particle) — ‘even/still’

• दृश्यते: is seen, appears
• दृश्यते: Kriyā (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन (3rd person singular) — कर्मणि प्रयोग (passive)

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikaraṇa (Location)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• देहे: in the body
• देहे: Adhikaraṇa (Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन (Masculine, Locative, Singular)

• पीयूषभक्षणात्: from eating nectar
• पीयूषभक्षणात्: Hetu (Cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पीयूष (प्रातिपदिक) + भक्षण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन (Neuter, Ablative, Singular) — षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (‘पीयूषस्य भक्षणम्’)

Speaker

Narrator

Tirtha Mahatmya

Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra jalāśaya (unnamed)

Type: kund

Visual Art Cues

Scene: The hare enters Soma’s belly and does not die; it remains visible in his body even now—visualized as the hare-mark on the lunar disc, a permanent emblem born of nectar consumption.

Characters & Entities

• Candra (Moon)
• Śaśaka (hare)
• Pīyūṣa/Amṛta

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Purāṇas encode cosmic signs as reminders of divine events, turning the heavens into a living sacred narrative.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

Prabhāsa-kṣetra, where the amṛta-water episode is situated within the māhātmya.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

None; the verse provides an etiological explanation tied to amṛta.